EAGER: The Presence of a Clumped Isotope Signal in Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide (CO)

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This EAGER project is a high risk, high reward project to measure an isotope of carbon monoxide never before measured in the atmosphere. It is theorized that this particular isotopic anomaly may be used as a tracer to assess the chemical reactivity of the atmosphere. Chemical reactivity in the atmosphere differs depending on the season, the amount of sunlight, and other factors. This project will measure, for the first time, the 'doubly substituted' isotopologue of atmospheric carbon monoxide 13C18O (31CO). The study will quantify the 31CO signal in atmospheric CO during different seasons, corresponding to different hydroxyl radical (OH) abundances, by collecting air samples from a mid-latitude, coastal site along the east coast of North America. Laboratory studies will also be conducted to determine the temperature dependence of 13C18O abundance. This project may find application in paleoatmospheric studies, as a parallel goal of the project is the evaluation of whether this signal is conserved in Holocene and Pleistocene-age polar ice.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.